


Montgomery

by AXEe



Series: Lucky Thirteen [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Rose Tyler, Bad Wolf Rose Tyler, F/F, Gen, Social Commentary, Time Lord Rose Tyler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-11 09:13:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16472738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: Hello all! Here we are :=) the first chapter of my 13/Rose AU of "Rosa", as an American and a big supporter of civil rights this episode is one of my favorites, and I hope to do the memory of Mrs. Parks proud.   Finally, I would like to dedicate this story, with the utmost love and respect, to the families and victims of the recent shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg, it is my hope that the memory of Rosa Parks will inspire others to nonviolent protests against such heinous acts.Now then, please enjoy :=)





	1. Wrong Place, Wrong Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! Here we are :=) the first chapter of my 13/Rose AU of "Rosa", as an American and a big supporter of civil rights this episode is one of my favorites, and I hope to do the memory of Mrs. Parks proud. Finally, I would like to dedicate this story, with the utmost love and respect, to the families and victims of the recent shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg, it is my hope that the memory of Rosa Parks will inspire others to nonviolent protests against such heinous acts.
> 
> Now then, please enjoy :=)

******

The alleyway was small and dingy, scraps of dirty paper and other garbage swirled around the pavement, the kind of alley that most people would try to avoid passing through, especially at night.

As such the alleyway was empty as the wind suddenly picked up, a strange grinding wheezing sound filling the air as a large blue box slowly materialized. As the strange object finished appearing, the door opened and a blonde woman leaned out, surveying her surroundings

“Nearly” she decided as she shut the door

“Sheffield?” Yaz asked hopefully as The Doctor shut the door and walked back to the console

“Almost,” The Doctor answered “really close”

“So, not Sheffield then?” Graham wondered mildly The Doctor glowered at the console

“You’re doing this deliberately aren’t you?” she hissed in mock anger

“Who are you talking to?” Yaz wondered

“If it’s me, I haven’t touched anything” Ryan added quickly

“I’m talking to the TARDIS,” The Doctor explained “because this is out ninth attempt”

“Fourteenth” Rose corrected as she crawled out from under the console

“You can’t even control this thing can you?” Graham objected

“Excuse me, yes I can,” The Doctor objected “most of the time. It’s just that, sometimes, like now she has a mind of her own”

“Most of the time?” Rose echoed

“OK, fine, all of the time” The Doctor conceded

“So, where are we now exactly?” Yaz wondered

“Earth,” Rose answered “United States….1955, Montgomery, Alabama”

“If we’re reading this properly,” The Doctor pointed out “new displays, still figuring them out”

“1955?!” Graham exclaimed, suddenly looking very interested “Elvis, could we go and see Elvis?” he asked

“I think he’s playing in New York this week,” The Doctor explained “I could give him a call”

Graham stared at her

“You haven’t got Elvis’ phone number” he stated

“Don’t ever tell anyone that Rose lent him a mobile phone”

“Excuse me?!” Rose demanded “I didn’t do that! You did!”

“I most certainly did not!” The Doctor objected. Anything further that would have been said was cut off as an alarm suddenly blared out, information now scrolling down the surface of one of the walls

“What is that? Traces of artron energy?” Rose wondered

“Yep” The Doctor nodded

“Are we suppose to know what artron energy is?” Yaz wondered

“It’s the same type of energy the TARDIS uses,” Rose explained “it’s sorta like…background radiation, harmless, but…,” she shook her head “there shouldn’t be any here”

“Unless it’s ours,” The Doctor nodded “which it isn’t”

“And now you want to check it out” Yaz guessed

“Yeah, we should,” The Doctor nodded “quick look, but quietly,” she warned “history’s like a soufflé, very delicate. We stick together”

Yaz and Ryan grinned madly at each other as The Doctor and Rose hurried out the doors…

******

Walking around 1950s Montgomery, Alabama the five travelers attracted surprisingly little attention except for a few occasional odd looks

“Real-life 1950s,” Yaz grinned at Rose “time travel’s awesome”

“Yep” Rose grinned back

“And you do this all the time?” Yaz asked “just…wander about history?”

Rose shrugged as they passed a well-dressed couple

“Excuse me,” Ryan hung back, picking up something off the ground and walking back to the couple “excuse me, you dropped this” as he reached to offer the woman her glove back, the man suddenly pulled her back and in a lighting fast move, soundly punched Ryan across the jaw, sending him stumbling back

“Whoa! Whoa!” Graham quickly pulled Ryan back before he could return the favor as the man glowered at him

“Get your filthy negro hands off my wife!” he spat in a deep Southern drawl

“Stop! Please, sir, take a step back” Yaz pleaded as she planted herself between the man and Ryan

“Are you OK, Ryan?” Rose and The Doctor asked

“I was just trying to give her glove back” Ryan spat, throwing the object in question on the ground. The man glanced at it and then at Graham

“This is your boy?” he demanded

“This is my grandson” Graham answered

The man stared at him

“Your what?” he asked, stupefied

“My grandson” Graham repeated

The man looked between them

“You ain’t from around here” he realized

“We’re just passing through, we don’t want any trouble” The Doctor explained.

The man glanced at her and then, seemingly dismissing her, turned to Graham again

“I don’t how it goes where you folks are from,” he began “but your boy? He’ll be swingin’ from a tree with a noose for a neckerchief if he touches white a woman on Montgom—”

“What did you say?!” Ryan demanded, lunging as Graham and Rose held him back

“Is there a problem here, Mr. Steele?”

A well-dressed black woman quickly slipped past The Doctor and Yaz and approached the man. She turned to Ryan and Graham

“Step away now,” she instructed in a sweet but firm voice “go ahead, step away”

“These friends of yours?” the man now identified as ‘Mr. Steele’ asked

“No, sir,” the woman answered “I was just on my lunch break and wanted to see if I could help out with any misunderstanding,” her tone indicated her clear nervousness as he turned and gave Ryan a firm look as she turned back to Mr. Steele “I was also coming to tell you that your suit will be ready tomorrow,” she explained “the alternations are going to make it look just fine, sir, real fine” she praised

Seemingly placated, Mr. Steele jammed his hat back on his head

“Let’s go, Lizzie” he instructed his wife, who gave the group a look that could freeze the fires of hell as they left. Now safe, their savior turned to Ryan

“Are you crazy?” she demanded “do you read the newspapers? You know what they did to young Emmet Till”

“He punched me!” Ryan spat

“We’re from out of town” The Doctor explained

The woman glanced at her and then turned back to Ryan

“So was Emmet Till,” she explained “vacationing from the North. A couple of words to a while woman in Mississippi and the next thing…,” she trailed off, clearly uncomfortable if her grimace was any indication “they find his body in the river. Do you want that to be you?”

The fight clearly leaving him, Ryan relaxed

“No” he stated

“Did you mother raise you with no manners?” the woman asked “I will take a ‘no, ma’am’.”

Ryan visibly straightened at her words

“No, ma’am” he answered, clearly Grace had taught him well

The woman glanced between them

“Y’all together?” she asked

“Yes,” The Doctor answered “very grateful for your assistance, Miss…?”

“Mrs.,” the woman corrected “Parks. Rosa Parks” she introduced herself

“No way!” Rose and Yaz exclaimed in clear delight

“You’re kidding!” Graham echoed

“Brilliant!” The Doctor grinned “Rosa Parks! Rose! It’s Rosa Parks! Lovely to meet you, Rosa Parks, big fan!”

“Excuse me?” Mrs. Parks asked, clearly confused

“Big fan…of Montgomery,” The Doctor answered quickly. She swallowed down her clear excitement “I—we—we’re just passing through…recommended any good places for tourists like us?” she asked

Mrs. Parks gave her a firm look

“I recommend that you get yourselves the hell out of Alabama before you get into trouble you can’t get out of,” she replied. She absently straightened her jacket “good day to you” she nodded politely as she turned and went about her day

“Oh…Rose!” The Doctor grinned “Rosa Parks! Oh! I’d kiss you expect it’d probably get us chased out of town by an angry mob”

“I can’t believe it!” Yaz grinned “actual Rosa Parks!”

“Amazing,” The Doctor nodded as she pulled out her sonic screwdriver and scanned Mrs. Parks “also worrying, traces of artron energy all around her. Why is that?”

******

Meanwhile, a man entered the same alleyway where the TARDIS was parked. Pulling a decidedly non-native device from his pocket, he scanned the box

“No,” he hissed as he realized what it was. Taking a breath, he angrily pounded on the door, but no one came out. Stepping back, he withdrew another device from his jacket and aimed it at the TARDIS, a blue bolt of energy hitting the box with no effect

“Force shields” the man hissed. Deterred for now, he turned and stalked out of the alleyway…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emmett Till was a fourteen year old boy from Chicago. In 1955 he was visiting in the Mississippi Delta region. While visiting a grocery store he spoke with the 21 year old white female owner Carolyn Bryant. Although what actually happened is a matter of dispute (although Carolyn Bryant initially claimed that Till had made verbal advances towards her, which later retracted), he violated the social conventions for 'proper behavior' for blacks and whites in the Jim Crow-era South and was accused of either flirting or whistling at Carolyn Bryant. Several nights afterwards, Bryant's husband Roy and his half-brother armed themselves and abducted Till from his great-uncle's house where he was staying. The two men _beat and mutilated_ Till before finally shooting him the head and sinking his body in the Tallahatchie River.
> 
> After his death, Till became an icon of the civil rights movement, the sheer heinousness of the crime as well as Till's age made many people see the gapping holes in the system at the time


	2. Someone Else Who Doesn't Belong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWO! Enjoy! :=)

******

“Ryan and I was in Rosa Parks’ class in primary” Yaz explained as the group—at Graham’s insistence—found a nearby bar to try and get a bite to eat

“Were you really?” Rose asked

“Yeah,” Yaz nodded “classes, four, five, and six were all named after influential people” she explained

“I even did a paper on her once,” Rose nodded “what about you, Ryan?”

“She was the bus woman, right?” Ryan asked

“You _do_ remember what it is she did, right?” Yaz asked

“Yeah,” Ryan nodded “first black woman to ever drive a bus”

“No Ryan!” Yaz exclaimed in clear shock

“Your Nan would be having a _fit_ right now,” Graham exclaimed “I mean, how could you have been in a class named after the woman and not know what she did?!” he demanded

“She’s American” Ryan dismissed

“She refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus” Yaz explained

“And got arrested for it” Rose picked up

“Her arrest started a boycott of the buses in Montgomery” Yaz explained

“Or rather will start,” The Doctor pointed out, tapping the newspaper on the table “today is Wednesday, November 30th 1955. Tomorrow, Rosa will refuse to give up her seat”

“And all of this basically kicked of the U.S. civil rights movement lead by Martin Luther King,” Ryan nodded “see?” he glared at Yaz childishly “I’m not totally ignorant, I just got confused by the whole bus thing”

“Martin Luther King is a minister here in Montgomery right now” The Doctor explained

“What? He and Rosa knew each other?” Rose asked in surprise

“Oh yeah” The Doctor nodded

“Is it me or has it gotten real quiet in here all of a sudden?” Graham suddenly wondered.

Slowly, they all looked around, the eyes of every patron in the bar now on them, the air thick with tension as some of the male patrons fingered their glassware, clearly itching to bash them against someone’s head

“Oh, I hate it when they stare,” The Doctor murmured “now I know how a goldfish feels” she muttered as a waitress came over

“We don’t serve ni—Negros” she said

The group glanced between each other before Ryan finally looked up at the waitress

“Good, ‘cause I don’t eat them” he replied

The waitress wrinkled her nose

“ _Or_ Mexicans” she continued, glowering at Yaz

“Is she talking to me?” Yaz wondered with a hint of sarcasm in her voice as the waitress’ lips twisted in clear disgust

“Y’all need to eat somewhere else” she stated

“Come on” The Doctor instructed quietly. Exiting the bar, they gathered on the curb

“OK,” Rose turned to face them “The Doctor and I can deal with this. You three go back to the TARDIS and be safe”

“While you do what?” Yaz asked

“Locate the source of these energy anomalies,” The Doctor explained “it’s easier for us, we’ve done this before. You can walk away from this”

“Rosa Parks can’t” Ryan reminded her

“Rosa Parks doesn’t” Yaz added

“If she can live here her whole life a couple hours won’t kill me,” Ryan shrugged “it won’t kill me, right?” he asked

“No” Graham chuckled

“Not if we stick together and look out for each other” The Doctor explained

Ryan nodded

“I’m cool with it,” he agreed. He glanced at Yaz “what do you reckon, Mexican lady?” he teased

“Oi, keep that up and I’ll use you as a piñata” she fired back as The Doctor scanned the area

“Epicenter of the artron readings in one point two miles that way,” she explained, pointing “come on”

“Hey, we will stop for a proper meal on the way, right?” Graham asked

“No time, Graham!” Rose and The Doctor exclaimed

Graham looked to Yaz and Ryan

“Do you notice that that happens a lot?” he asked “I need regular food is all”

“I don’t think your stomach’s compatible with time travel Graham” Yaz teased…

******

“The artron readings converge here” The Doctor explained as they walked through the dusty yard

“At the bus depot?” Yaz echoed

“All roads lead to Rosa Parks,” The Doctor noted “bit of a worry” she remarked as they came to a locked door, which she quickly unlocked with the sonic

“There’s nothing here” Ryan stated as they walked into the seemingly empty warehouse

“Why padlock an empty room?” Yaz suggested

“Unless it’s not empty” The Doctor commented as she and Rose waved their sonic screwdrivers around, a small suitcase suddenly appearing out of thin air

“That wasn’t there a second ago” Graham commented

“No kidding” Ryan exclaimed

“Yes it was,” The Doctor nodded “we just couldn’t see it, perception filter”

“Why would anyone do that to a suitcase?” Rose wondered

“Let’s find out” The Doctor nodded as they approached the old and battered object

“Can we open it?” Ryan wondered

“Is the right question!” The Doctor grinned, quickly dropping to her knees in front of the object “is anyone else excited? ‘Cause I’m really excited”

“You won’t be if there’s a bomb in there” Rose pointed out

“Don’t kill the vibe, Rose!” The Doctor complained as she aimed her sonic at the suitcase, the latches snapping open. Opening the suitcase revealed a selection of objects that were decidedly not native

“Whoa, definitely not 1950s” Ryan remarked as they all took in the objects

“I knew it,” The Doctor sighed “see, now we’re not the only ones in Montgomery who don’t belong here”

“Any idea what any of that is?” Yaz wondered as Rose crouched down next to The Doctor

“Let’s see," she began "information brick…uh…multi-inclusion surveillance system…,” she stopped “Doctor?” she questioned

“Oh this is bad,” The Doctor breathed as she took in the device Rose was holding up “secondary charger for—”

A blast of sound suddenly echoed across the room, a barrel besides the group suddenly vanishing in a burst of blue light

“ _Run!!_ ” The Doctor cried as they sprinted out of the room…

******

“In here!” The Doctor ordered, ushering the behind one of the large fuel tanks for the buses as their pursuer climbed atop one tank.

Rose looked at The Doctor and nodded, The Doctor nodded back

“Be careful” she whispered as Rose slipped away from their hiding place and climbed atop the tank behind their pursuer

“Oi, looking for us?” she called out, making the man turn “I’m not armed”

The man turned, the same man who had, unknown to the five travelers, found the TARDIS in the alleyway

“That suppose to make me not shoot you?” he asked

“It’d be nice,” Rose nodded “so,” she took a breath “temporal displacement weapon, eh? I hate those things”

“Thank you” the man nodded

“Not a compliment,” Rose fired back “takes a lot of power to displace things in time, doesn’t it? I think we both know that your almost out of juice there,” she reached into her pocket and pulled out the object she and The Doctor had taken from the suitcase “and I’ve got your spare battery”

“Yeah, and what’s it to you?” the man scoffed “you the time police or something?” he chuckled “maybe you are,” he remarked “blue box in the alley? Is it a TARDIS?”

“Might be,” Rose countered “what’s it to you?”

“Well, it might be worth a bit of money” he remarked

“Nah, not that one,” Rose dismissed “secondhand, lots of mileage, one careless owner,”

The Doctor scowled as she heard this

“Mind you, it’s better than a vortex manipulator,” Rose continued “like the one on your wrist? Cheap and nasty way of time travel,” she took a breath as the man readjusted his jacket sleeve to cover the manipulator “so, what do you want with Rosa Parks?” Rose demanded

“Who?”

Rose scowled

“Oh, now you’re just being annoying” she complained

“The feeling’s mutual”

“How long have you been here?” Rose demanded

“Get out of Montgomery,” the man ordered

Rose smirked

“I see you again, I _will_ kill you” the man warned

“Don’t threaten me” Rose warned as she hopped down from her perch

“Chop-chop,” the man taunted “get a move on” he smirked smugly at her. Pausing, Rose turned back and scanned him, earning a snort of disbelief from him

“Come on” Rose muttered as the others came out of hiding

“We’re not actually leaving are we?” Yaz wondered

“Not in a million years” The Doctor growled…


	3. Proper Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THREE! Enjoy! :=)

******

The motel was far from upscale. In fact it was a cheap, somewhat rundown place whose management probably didn’t ask too many questions of their guests. That being said, in addition to the sign’s advertising ‘cheap, affordable rooms’ and ‘vacancy’, it also advertised one unfortunate reminder of the time

WHITES ONLY

“I’m really getting sick of seeing that sign” Ryan grumbled as the group assessed the sign

“We all are” Rose muttered

“So,” Yaz began “how we going to do this?”

******

“Right, in you get before someone see’s you” Graham urged as he and The Doctor helped Ryan through the bathroom window of the motel room that Graham and The Doctor had rented

“This is fun” Ryan muttered as he awkwardly staggered over the narrow windowsill

“Why do _I_ have to climb in through the window?” Rose demanded as she wriggled up after Ryan

“Because,” The Doctor panted out as she tried to pull Rose through the narrow opening “a man checking into a single room,” she nodded at Graham “…with two women would _definitely_ raise some eyebrows and attract unwanted attention. Which we don’t want,” she grunted as she gave Rose’s hands a hard tug. With a startled yelp, Rose suddenly came tumbling through the window, colliding with The Doctor and causing the both of them to go tumbling into the bathtub in a tangle of limbs with two yelps of surprise and pain.

“You two all right?” Graham asked

Grunting, both women wriggled and kicked as they tried to get out of the small tub, each hitting their heads more than once on the faucet

“All good,” The Doctor panted out as she managed to free an arm and hold it out to him “little help?”

“Give us a sec” Graham answered as he and Ryan helped Yaz, who—unlike Rose or Ryan—entered through the window with an unfair amount of grace and ease. With Yaz now in she helped Ryan and Graham get Rose and The Doctor out of the tight confines of the tub

“Last time I snuck into someone’s room by a window was when I was in year ten,” Yaz grunted as she and the two men succeeded in freeing Rose and The Doctor from the tub “Danny Biswas” she grunted as Rose and The Doctor were finally freed

“Wow,” Ryan muttered in clear amazement “you just went down in my estimation” he exclaimed as she shut the window

“All right” she dismissed

“Danny Biswas?” Ryan asked “he was punching way below his weight”

Yaz stared at him

“Did you just accidently give me a compliment?” she asked hesitantly

Ryan seemed puzzled for a second

“Whatever” he dismissed, quickly leaving the room as Yaz snorted out a half laugh

“Why can’t we just stay in the TARDIS?” Graham wondered

“Because our friend with the temporal displacement weapon has got his eyes on it” The Doctor explained

“He’ll know we keep coming and going from there” Rose picked up

“And I don’t want him to,” The Doctor added “not yet. Not until we know what’s going on”

“This is better?” Ryan wondered, gesturing to the bathroom “smuggling ourselves into crummy motels?”

“We just need a moment to work this out,” The Doctor explained “now, what do we know?”

“Well,” Graham began “1955, Montgomery, one day away from Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on a bus”

“Meanwhile, we’ve got an out-of-time impostor skulking around the bus works with a temporal displacement weapon” The Doctor added

“I understand ‘weapon’,” Ryan began “but I’m not sure about ‘temporal displacement’.”

“It ‘displaces’ you through time,” Rose explained “a blast hits you and you’re sent to wherever in time the user’s set it. Same place, different time”

“Where was it set?” The Doctor asked

Rose examined her sonic screwdriver

“Far future” she announced

“That’s horrible” Ryan noted

“And it uses artron molecules,” The Doctor nodded “that, plus his vortex manipulator, is probably what the TARDIS picked up” she reasoned

“So, do you think he’s here to kill Rosa Parks?” Yaz wondered “or use that weapon on her?”

“He’s been here for awhile,” The Doctor pointed out “set up base at the bus works. If he was here to kill her why has he not done it already?”

“Fixed points” Rose realized

“Oh…,” The Doctor grinned “my clever girl!” she beamed, quickly pulling Rose in for a brief kiss before she turned to the others “Rosa Parks’ place in history is a tipping point in Earth history; it must be a fixed point in time”

“Sorry, fixed point?” Graham asked

“Something that _has_ to happen” Rose explained

“They’re moments in time that have dramatic effects on the rest of history,” The Doctor explained “Pompeii, the _Titanic_ , the Kennedy assassination, the Moon landing, those are just a few. Plus, the sonics also picked up something else about him, but we’ll need to go back to be sure,” she turned and then leapt up onto the bed, pulling a pen from her back as she did “right! Rose, Yaz, what do you remember about Rosa Parks from school?” she asked as she quickly wrote ‘Rosa Parks’ on the wall in big letters

“Oi! Wha-what are you doing?!” Graham demanded “that’s vandalism! We’ll have to pay for that!” he exclaimed

“Don’t worry,” The Doctor assured him “special pen” she explained as she went back to writing

“No! Pack it in!” Graham ordered “you ain’t Banksy”

The Doctor turned

“Or am I?” she grinned before she turned back “Rosa takes the bus on the first of December, 1955. What time of day?”

“Evening,” Rose nodded “she was coming home from work, I remember that, because people said they thought that she didn’t stand up because she was tired from work”

“But she wasn’t” Yaz added

“Good,” The Doctor scribbled that information down “what kind of work?”

“Uh…,” Rose frowned “I think she worked in a store?”

“A department store” Yaz nodded

“No, wait,” Graham spoke up “she told that git that punched Ryan ‘your suit will be ready tomorrow’.”

“That’s it,” Yaz nodded “she did clothes’ repair, she was a seamstress,” she explained “… _is_ a seamstress,” she added “still getting used to being the past”

A hard pounding on the door startled all of them. Yaz and Rose glanced at each other and then at Ryan

“Bathroom” they both said

“Seriously?” Ryan echoed

“Very seriously” Yaz nodded as she and Rose ushered him into the bathroom, hastily shutting the door behind them as The Doctor leapt off the bed and headed for the door

“No, Doc! The wall” Graham exclaimed, gesturing to the wall. Taking a breath, she pulled out the sonic and waved it over the wall, the lettering vanishing. Grinning at Graham’s expression, she wiggling the sonic between her fingers

“Banksy doesn’t have one of those,” she declared “or have I?” smirking she turned and pulled open the door, stiffening as she did “oh. Officer. What can I do for you?”

“Can I come in, ma’am?” the officer asked in a tone that clearly indicated that it wasn’t a question. Stepping back from the door The Doctor turned around, taking a steadying breath

“’Ma’am’, still can’t get used to that,” she muttered as Graham settled down on the bed, trying for a casual pose “here we are…darling,” The Doctor announced as she placed herself in front of the still half-open bathroom door “this police officer was so keen on coming in that he didn’t feel the need to introduce himself”

The officer who entered the room, shutting the door behind him as he did, almost fit the stereotype of the fat Southern Sherriff as he idly shifted the toothpick in his mouth. Still trying for casual, Graham flashed the officer a weak smile

“Is there a problem, Officer…?”

“Mason,” the officer answered “Montgomery Police”

“I’d offer you a cuppa, but the refreshments are sorely lacking,” The Doctor babbled as she reached behind herself and, as quietly as possible, pulled the bathroom door shut “I’ll be leaving a note” she added

“British?” Officer Mason asked

“How can you tell?” Graham asked with a weak chuckle

“You’ve been makin’ folks uneasy” Officer Mason explained

“How’ve we done that?” The Doctor wondered

“You don’t happen to know a couple of…mongrels?” Mason asked “Negro boy? Mexican girl?”

“I don’t recognize anyone by that description” The Doctor replied

“Hmm,” Mason chuckled as he spat out the toothpick, clearly not believing her “see, the, uh, Negro’s been pickin’ fights with…upstandin’ citizens,” he explained. He took a step forward, leaning into The Doctor’s personal space “you appreciate that its, it’s an offense to harbor coloreds in a room here?” he hinted

“We’re not harboring anyone who doesn’t have a right here” The Doctor retorted

“Mm-hmm,” Officer Mason nodded for her to move out of the way, forcing her back to stand by the bed “what’s your business here on Montgomery?” he wondered as Graham stood up, coming to stand protectively by The Doctor’s side (not that she needed his protection)

“We’re, uh, here, to uh, er, pitch an invention,” Graham stammered out. At Mason’s skeptical look he continued “yeah, it’s…um…a…telephone…that…uh, plays music…and it, er, it takes pictures, it’s also a camera, and, er, it sends letters”

“Sounds ridiculous” Mason scoffed

“Yeah, no” Graham chuckled

“What’s your name, sir?” Mason asked

“Steve,” Graham answered slowly “…Jobs,” he added “it’s Steve Jobs” he nodded, earning a grin from The Doctor

“You bein’ disrespectful with me, Mr. Jobs?” Mason demanded

“Steve Jobs would never disrespect a Montgomery Police Officer…sir” Graham stammered out

Mason nodded slowly

“And you, ma’am?” he asked, turning to The Doctor

“Gates,” The Doctor answered “Melinda Gates”

Again, Mason nodded slowly before he turned back to the bathroom door and, before either Graham or The Doctor could stop him, suddenly thrust it open.

What happened next would be laughed about by the five travelers for ages to come. As the bathroom slammed into the wall and Mason charged inside, he was met by a loud outraged _shriek_ and a sneaker to the head as Rose, now clad in only a towel, swung at him with her sneaker

“PERVERT!!!!” she bellowed before slamming the door shut in his face

Mason—now a very interesting shade of red—spluttered and coughed uncomfortably as he backed away from the door as if it led to the pits of hell itself

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Graham hurried to explain “I forgot to introduce our…daughter”

Mason glowered at him as he struggled to regain his composure

“You get yourselves gone as your business is concluded!!!” he ordered before he stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind hard enough to rattle the windows

“Oh, I did not warm to him,” The Doctor sighed as Rose emerged from the bathroom absently straightening her t-shirt “that was good thinking, Rose,” she praised “how’d you come up with that?” she wondered

“Saw it in a movie I think,” Rose explained “can’t remember which one”

“Where are Ryan and Yaz?” Graham wondered…

******

“I’m sick of this place already” Ryan complained as he and Yaz crouched down behind the dumpster in the alley behind the motel

“I know,” Yaz nodded “but to be here as history’s happening” she pointed out

“History isn’t happening yet,” Ryan countered “we’re hiding behind bins!” he hissed “I’m having to work so hard to keep me temper,” he explained “I could’ve slapped that guy back when we first arrived. Thank god my Nan taught me how to keep my temper: ‘never give them the excuse’.”

“Yeah,” Yaz nodded “my Dad tells me the same”

“Yeah, see,” Ryan nodded “it’s not like Rosa Parks wipes out racism from the world forever. Otherwise, how come I get stopped way more by the police than my white mates?”

Yaz gave him a look

“Oi. Not this police” she pointed out

“Tell me you don’t get hassled” Ryan reminded her

“Of course I do,” she replied “especially on the job. I get called a ‘Paki’ when I’m sorting out a domestic dispute or a ‘terrorist’ on the way home from the mosque”

“Yeah, exactly” Ryan nodded

“But they don’t win, those people,” she reminded him “I can be a police officer now ‘cause people like Rosa Parks fought those battles for me—for us. And in fifty-three years they’ll have a black President as a leader,” she pointed out. Her expression became thoughtful “who knows where they’ll be fifty years after that? Who knows where any of us will be? That’s proper change,” she reminded him “did you know that Rose had a black boyfriend?”

“No”

Yaz smiled

“Exactly. Back then…I mean right now…both she and him would have been run out of town by an angry mob. Now? Nobody really cares. And _that’s_ what makes it worthwhile,” she explained

Ryan scoffed lightly

“What?” she asked

“Were you born this positive?” he wondered

She smirked

“Guess so,” she replied “must be my Mexican blood” she teased

“Yaz, Ryan!” Graham called from above “clear”

******

“Right, where were we?” The Doctor beamed as she restored the lettering on the wall “if we’re going to protect Rosa, we need to know the facts of her life, home address, daily routine, where she works, the route she takes, and the church she attends. Also, the name of the driver she refused”

“I know that,” Graham sad “it’s James Blake”

“How’d you know that?” Rose asked

“Well, Grace, when she found out that I was a bus driver said to me ‘you’d better not be like James Blake’, ‘Blake the Snake’ that’s what she called him. And I had to ask her who he was and she said that he gave all bus drivers a bad name”

“She said that when you’d only just met?” Rose asked

“Yeah”

“That’s pretty hardline” Yaz noted

“That’s me Nan” Ryan chuckled

“Yeah,” Graham nodded “she had a t-shirt that said, um, ‘the spirit of Rosa’, and, well…I wish she was here” he smiled wistfully, his gaze distant as the others all glanced around uncomfortably, uncertain of what to say or do next

“I don’t,” Ryan spoke up “she’d start a riot”

“Yeah” Graham chuckled, which broke the tension

“Right,” The Doctor grinned “Operation Rosa Parks. Let’s get started”

******

It took a few hours, without the benefit of computers or the internet; the four Humans were forced to look up the required information by hand in books

“Rose and I found out where she works,” Yaz explained as they sat around the map spread out on the motel room floor “Montgomery Fair Department Store” she circled the spot on the map

“And if the phone book’s right this is where she lives” Ryan added, handing the notebook over

“Well, none of these routes go anywhere near Rosa’s shop or house,” Graham tossed the bus route pamphlets aside “but _these_ ones do”

“Right,” The Doctor nodded “if we can figure out Rosa’s routine today we can protect her tomorrow. Who’s up for a bus ride?”

Graham held up his hand…

******

The bus was sparsely filled, only about a half a dozen passengers or so as Graham sat down and beckoned Rose and The Doctor over

“This bus is one of three that goes between Rosa’s home and where she works,” he explained “so I reckon it’s the most direct”

“So most likely it’ll be the one she takes tomorrow?” Rose guessed

“But we won’t know what time” The Doctor pointed out as Yaz climbed aboard

“Not unless we stalk her all day” she pointed out

“This is me,” Ryan called out as he climbed aboard using the rear entrance “on the back of the bus” he muttered disgustedly

“I’m so ashamed,” Graham muttered “you shouldn’t have to do this” he called out to his grandson

“I agree,” The Doctor nodded “I’m sorry, Ryan”

“The driver let me on at the front of the bus,” Yaz pointed out “what does that mean for where I sit?” she pointed to the small signs atop some seats with read simply ‘white’

“Does ‘colored’ only mean ‘black’ in 1955?” Rose wondered

“It depends” The Doctor explained

“Depends on what?” Yaz wondered

“The color of your skin,” The Doctor explained sadly “how dark your skin was compared to others”

“Guess there’s not a lot of Pakistani heritage around here,” Yaz muttered, looking around the bus “guess I’ll just park my South American Asian backside in the ‘white’ section and see what happens,” she muttered as she sat down. She glanced at The Doctor, smirking humorlessly

“Riding the bus in Montgomery, should be fun” she muttered…


	4. Tiny Actions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter FOUR! Enjoy! :=)

******

The bus made about eight or so stops before Yaz signaled for them to get off

“That’s it,” she pointed at the tall building across the street from where they were standing. Even from this distance they could make out the words ‘Department Store’ on the sign “that’s where she works” Yaz explained

“Perfect,” The Doctor grinned “we can wait here and then join her when she gets off work, have a little chat”

******

The diner was small and out of the way yet had a good line-of-sight of the department store. The five travelers each found a booth and settled down for the long wait, with Ryan being forced to sit the farthest from the rest in a small cramped section of the room beneath a sign that read ‘COLOREDS ONLY’, while Yaz was relegated to sitting somewhere in the middle between the two sections, being largely ignored by both blacks and whites.

“God, I’m so ashamed,” Graham complained as he gulped down more coffee “what if you were meeting a friend for lunch? How could you do it with that stupid sign in the way?”

“You could have gone to lunch quite easily,” The Doctor explained as she continued building a little tower out of coffee stirrers “because you, as a white man, weren’t suppose to have any friends who were black,” she scowled as her tower collapsed “Rose,” she began as she started rebuilding the tower “you and Mickey”

“What about us?” Rose asked

“Have any problems with other people?” The Doctor wondered “people not liking seeing you and him together?”

“A few,” Rose admitted “not many, but a few. Mostly drunken idiots,” she shook her head “but what about your neighbors?” she wondered “I mean right now?”

“You weren’t supposed to have black neighbors,” Graham explained “or vice versa. You should’ve seen the looks I got from the neighbors when I moved in with Grace. And that was in 2016!”

Rose shook her head

“I just can’t get my head around that” she muttered

“Of course not,” The Doctor dismissed “you were born during a more open and enlightened time”

“Not that enlightened” Rose muttered

“No,” The Doctor agreed “but better than here”

******

“Hi, nice to see you again,” Yaz greeted as Mrs. Parks climbed aboard the bus “Mrs. Parks, right?”

“You helped us out earlier” Rose pitched in as she and The Doctor took the seat next to Mrs. Parks

“I remember,” Mrs. Parks nodded “British” she chuckled a bit

“Funny thing is,” The Doctor began “you won’t believe this, but we’re actually doing market research for bus companies”

“Transport habits fares, that sort of thing,” Rose picked up “we’ve got a raffle going on too”

“Yes,” The Doctor nodded “just answer a few questions and you’ll be automatically entered into the raffle and you might win a prize,” she beamed “so, uh, do you always take this bus at this time of day?”

“Most days,” Mrs. Parks nodded “always this time”

“And you live…?” The Doctor began

“Oh, Cleveland Court,” Mrs. Parks pointed “next stop,” she frowned and glanced at The Doctor and Rose “ma’am,” she began “if you and your friend keep sitting there we’re all going to have to move” she explained

“What’d you mean?” Graham asked, looking past Yaz

“Well,” Mrs. Parks began, a hint of discomfort in her voice “if white folks need a seat then by law I have to give mine up,” she explained “this middle section’s only for coloreds if white folk don’t need them”

“Oh, that’s not right” Graham muttered as The Doctor and Rose quickly got up and moved one seat up

“You can tell that to your company, sir,” Mrs. Parks remarked. She glanced between the travelers “now, if I win your raffle, will that give me the right to sit anywhere I want on this bus?” she wondered

“No” The Doctor answered regrettably

Mrs. Parks smirked, clearly having been expecting that answer

“I didn’t think so,” she chuckled as the bus slowed to a stop “this is my stop” she explained as she got up and quietly slipped off the bus

“I’m going to follow her,” Ryan said as he stood up “see what I can find. Meet you back at the motel later”

“Ryan,” The Doctor called “be careful” she pleaded

“Yeah” Ryan nodded as he slipped off the bus after Mrs. Parks through the rear entrance

“Do you think he’ll be all right?” Yaz wondered

“Hope so” Rose breathed as they all leaned in

“Graham, do you think you can find James Blake, the driver?” The Doctor asked

“Um…yeah,” Graham nodded slowly “I’ll just have a word with the bloke up front, see where they all like to go for a drink”

The Doctor nodded

“Yaz, do you think you can compile a timeline of what happens this time tomorrow evening?” she asked

“Yeah” Yaz nodded

“Good,” The Doctor nodded “Rose, you—”

“We already talked about this” Rose interrupted

The Doctor scowled and then sighed

“All right,” she grumbled “but _be careful,_ ” she urged, taking Rose’s hands “please”

“Why? What’s she going to do?” Yaz wondered

“Talk to our friend,” Rose explained “tell him to stay out of history’s way”

“In the meantime,” The Doctor spoke up “I guess I’ll go and follow Ryan as he follows Rosa”

******

Ryan had looked mildly surprised but said nothing as The Doctor joined him in following Mrs. Parks into a rundown but well maintained neighborhood

“Stalking Rosa Parks,” Ryan grumbled “I don’t like it, makes me feel…dirty”

“I know,” The Doctor nodded “but, remember, it’s for a good cause” she urged as they rounded a corner, both coming up short as Mrs. Parks herself suddenly whirled around to face them

“You better not be following me!” she growled

“Easy,” The Doctor soothed, holding up her hands “we just want to help”

“Help with what?” Mrs. Parks asked

“The fight” Ryan answered

Mrs. Parks glanced between the two of them

“And how I do know that you’re not a pair of spies for the police or the FBI?” she wondered

“Because if they were to send spies, they would’ve sent people who could actually follow you” Ryan pointed

“Who weren’t both British,” The Doctor added. She glanced down at herself “or a white woman in a predominantly black neighborhood” she added

“Plus,” Ryan added “I don’t think they know any black guys to begin with”

Mrs. Parks smirked

“Either of you any good at serving coffee?” she asked

“No, but I can give it a try” The Doctor beamed

Mrs. Parks smiled

“Come on” she invited…

******

The warehouse was just as empty as it had been the last time Rose had been in there. Approaching the now exposed suitcase, she aimed her sonic at it, opening it. Crouching down she examined the items inside, looking for anything of interest as a set of heavy footsteps approached from behind.

Slamming the case shut, Rose gripped the handle and, surging to her feet, swung the case around towards her would be attacker, the suitcase vanishing in a flash of blue light

“Whoops,” she panted out as she and the same time traveler faced each other down “too bad, looks like you just sent all your stuff to who knows where. 79th century if I’m right,” she smirked “by the way, don’t those things have a tendency to overheat very easily?”

With a pained grunt, he dropped the temporal displacement weapon, causing Rose to smirk darkly

“Now we’re even,” she declared “so, first things first, tell me about Stormcage”

The man smirked

“Storm what?”

“Oh, you’re still being annoying,” Rose grumbled “there, on your wrist,” she pointed at his left wrist “Stormcage identifier. One of the most secure prisons in the universe. Not now of course, but I’m guessing that’s where the vortex manipulator comes in”

The man smirked

“You’d be surprised what you can get if you work and barter inside there” he remarked

“Escape or released?” Rose demanded

“I did my time,” he dismissed “I’m…rehabilitated”

“What were you in there for in the first place?”

“Oh, if I tell you, if might…color your view of me,” he chuckled “oh, I was young, nobody got hurt,” he dismissed “well a few people got killed,” he chuckled “a few hundred people, a few thousand, tops,” he paused and then smirked “two thousand” he admitted

“So you’re a mass murderer,” Rose declared “bad enough that Stormcage put a neural restrictor in your brain before releasing you”

“How can you know that?” he demanded “who are you?” he wondered

“Who are _you_?” Rose countered

“Krasko,” he answered “now you” he smirked

Rose smirked back

“I’m reason they called it ‘Stormcage’,” she answered “very good scanner this,” she held up her sonic screwdriver “I thought I detected it when we first met, then it started to make sense. You’ve obviously got a problem with Rosa Parks, so why don’t you just kill her? Answer? You can’t,” she smirked “you can’t kill or injure any living thing. No matter how much you want to. So, if I do this,” she reached out and ripped the vortex manipulator off his wrist, throwing it to the ground and smashing her heel down on it “…you can’t stop me,”

With a growl, he suddenly lunged, his hand reaching for her throat, only to stop just inches away from her windpipe, grimacing and choking as he doubled over.

Rose calmly stepped back, watching as he crumpled to the floor, panting for breath

“You can’t harm me,” she reminded him “no matter how much you want to. So, let’s start again, you’re released from Stormcage and you come here. Why?”

“I’m allowed a hobby” Krasko dismissed as he stood up on shaky knees

“Hobby, is that what you’re calling it?” Rose wondered sarcastically

“This is where things started to go wrong” he explained

“What? And you think you can fix it?” Rose wondered

“I had a lot of time to think in Stormcage,” he began “and I realized that time can be changed by tiny actions”

“You mean tomorrow,” Rose guessed. She shook her head “won’t work,” she told him “go away, find a beach, read a book; because it’s not going to work. Not while we’re here”

Krasko smirked

“You think that’ll make any difference?” he challenged “history changes when tiny things don’t go to plan”

“Won’t work” Rose repeated

Krasko smirked

“Well, let’s see” he challenged as he turned and left the warehouse…


	5. Illumination and Understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES!!!!!! IT'S FINALLY BEING UPDATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (cue insane laughter :=)
> 
> Enjoy! :=)

******

Mrs. Parks’ home was neat and tidy. The furnishings were simple and probably bought second-hand, but were lovingly maintained. As Ryan and The Doctor entered behind Mrs. Parks, the other occupants of the room—three well-dressed black men—stood up, assessing the two newcomers with obvious unease and suspicion, The Doctor in particular, and she suddenly realized that she was in the minority here, a white woman (or rather someone who appeared white by 1950s Earth’s standards) in a room with four black men and only one other woman.

Was this how Rose felt every time they went somewhere where men outnumbered women? Isolated? Singled out? She was suddenly feeling a brand new appreciation for what Rose went through every time they’d ended up in a place or time that was well before women’s rights

“Everyone,” Mrs. Parks’ voice brought The Doctor back to the present “this is Ryan Sinclair and Jane Tyler. They’re from England,” she introduced them, the men’s eyes still glancing at The Doctor with obvious unease as Mrs. Parks continued “I’m thinking that they might be good recruits to our youth council,” she explained “I told them that they could serve coffee tonight and sit in on our meeting,” she explained as she put up her coat

“This is my husband, Parks,” she introduced her husband, who politely shook hands with The Doctor and Ryan “this is Mr. Fred Grey,” the second man also politely shook hands with The Doctor and Ryan “and this is Dr. King from Dexter Avenue Baptist Church”

“Wha…Martin Luther King?!” Ryan exclaimed

“That’s correct” Dr. King answered with a nod

“Oh! Brilliant!” The Doctor grinned, eagerly shaking his other hand (as Ryan was doing the same) “absolutely brilliant you are!!” she praised “just…Oh! I wish Rose was here to meet you! She’d love it!”

“My Nan loves you” Ryan added, nodding like he was a bobblehead

“Your…Nan?” Dr. King asked “oh, you mean ‘nana’?” he wondered

“Yeah” Ryan nodded

“The elder ladies do love your services, Martin,” Mr. Parks commented with a chuckle, earning a rather bashful nod from Dr. King “you’ll never short a grey-haired wife in Alabama” he added

“Does your grandmother attend Dexter Avenue?” Dr. King asked Ryan

“Oh,” Ryan’s face fell “no. She died recently”

“Oh,” Dr. King finally managed to free his hand from The Doctor’s grip to place it atop Ryan’s “I’m sorry for your loss, son” he said

“Thank you,” Ryan nodded “she’d be chuffled to know you said that. Thank you, Martian Luther King”

“Ryan?” Mrs. Parks called, a hint of impatient in her voice

“Excuse me, Dr. King,” Ryan turned “yes, Rosa Parks?” he froze and glanced at The Doctor “whoa” he breathed

“I know” she grinned

“You want to serve that coffee now?” Mrs. Parks hinted

Ryan nodded eagerly…

******

The meeting had progressed fairly smoothly, there had been talk of organizing sit-ins, letter-writing campaigns, and boycotts, but no talks of violence, only peaceful, non-violent means. Finally, about an hour after they’d arrived, the meeting wound down, Dr. King and Fred Grey had both quietly left, Mr. Parks retired upstairs, and Rosa Parks had gone out onto the front porch, where Ryan and The Doctor found her

“Did you find what you were looking for tonight?” she asked Ryan as he joined her on the step

“I didn’t know what I was looking for,” he admitted “but seeing you all, hearing you talk, I can’t believe it,” he shook his head “it’ll get better,” he promised “not graet, but…better”

Mrs. Parks sighed heavily

“I hope so,” she breathed as she glanced up at The Doctor “and you, ma’am? Did you find out something?” she wondered

The Doctor sighed as she joined them on the step

“Understanding,” she answered “about…who I am,” she gave Ryan a gentle nudge “we should be going” she reminded him

“Yeah,” he nodded as he shook Mrs. Parks’ hand “thank you,” he said “for everything”

She chuckled

“I haven’t done anything” she dismissed

“Maybe,” The Doctor shrugged as she and Ryan stood up “maybe not”

“Good night, ma’am” Ryan nodded as The Doctor gave her a slight two fingered salute…

******

“Seriously?” Rose asked “Martin Luther King?”

“Yep,” The Doctor nodded as she examined the temporal displacement weapon “good job getting the weapon” she praised

“Got this too” Rose held out the vortex manipulator

“Oh, what happened to it?” The Doctor wondered, turning it over

“I stepped on it” Rose answered

“Why?” Yaz asked

“Well, I had to disable it somehow” Rose explained

“But did you have to smash it?” The Doctor demanded “you could’ve just used your sonic” she exclaimed as Graham came in

“James Blake is taking the day off tomorrow” he announced

“What?” Rose and The Doctor both asked

“Yeah,” Graham nodded “he says somebody from the bus company has given his route to somebody called…‘Elias Griffin Jr.’,” he pointed at The Doctor and Rose “your mate is mucking about with the schedule”

“So, that’s his plan,” The Doctor breathed “see? He’s clever, he’s not planning on killing anyone, or destroying, no, he’s just going to _nudge_ it. Just enough so that it doesn’t happen. Throwing just a big enough stick in the spokes so that everything goes off the rails—and now I’m really mixing up my transport metaphors”

“So what do we do?” Yaz wondered

“We stop him” Rose proclaimed

“No,” The Doctor shook her head “no. Tomorrow we have to make sure that Rosa Parks gets on the bus driven by James Blake and that there are enough seat full so that she’ll be forced to give up her seat to white passengers. We don’t change history, we guard it, and Ryan put that down” she plucked the temporal displacement weapon from his hands

“How does it even work anyway?” he wondered

“Charges here, destination’s set here,” Rose explained “pretty simple, pretty deadly. Now can we focus?” she tossed the weapon aside and picked up the vortex manipulator and aimed her sonic at it, a flickering hologram projecting on the far wall “got it,” she muttered “Doctor?”

“Right,” The Doctor nodded at the flickering image of twisting, twirling lines “if Krasko succeeds, no one will boycott the buses, no boycotts, and the bus companies won’t have any reason to desegregate the buses, or anything else for that matter, meaning that racial tensions here in Alabama will boil over. Instead of a series of peaceful marches, it’ll explode into riots and worse,” she turned back to the others as the hologram flickered out of existence “now, how do we get James Blake back on his bus tomorrow?”

“I’ve got an idea” Ryan and Yaz said at once

“Same idea?” The Doctor asked hopefully

“Fishing takeover”/“Raffle winner” was the duel answer

“Right…,” The Doctor said slowly “those could work. But right now we all need to get some sleep. Got to get up bright and early tomorrow. So…who gets the bed?”

The group turned and stared at the single bed…

******

“Stop fidgeting” Rose whispered

“Sorry,” The Doctor whispered back “not used to sleeping on the floor”

“You could go push Graham onto the floor” Rose suggested

“Nah, he deserves the bed, he’s the oldest”

Rose gave her a look

“OK, the oldest _human_ ,” The Doctor conceded. She reached out and took Rose’s hand, squeezing tightly “you really had me scared when you told me you want to confront Krasko”

“I can’t just sit around and let you have all the fun,” Rose dismissed “Doctor, I’m four hundred years old, I can build my own sonic screwdriver, and can fly the TARDIS, you can’t keep treating me like the shop girl you swept off her feet fifteen hundred years ago”

“I suppose you’re right,” The Doctor sighed “but...I worry about you” she admitted

“I know,” Rose nodded “and I worry about you too,” she explained “tell you what, after this, once we get them home, let’s go dancing. Just the two of us. No monsters, no aliens, just us”

“Are you going to pilot?” The Doctor challenged

“I do it better than you”

“You do not” The Doctor objected

“I do too” Rose scoffed

“Whatever,” The Doctor dismissed “dancing it is” she vowed…


	6. Into Motion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're BACK! Chapter FIVE! Enjoy! :=)

******

“Say what you will, but the buses are really good here” The Doctor praised as she and Rose hopped off the bus “on time, quiet, mostly clean”

“Sure,” Rose scoffed “as long you’re white. And a man. Did you see how the driver was leering at you?”

“Was he?” The Doctor wondered as they headed to their destination, cutting across someone’s yard “ooh! That’s a nice quilt,” The Doctor commented, pausing to examine a brightly-colored quilt hanging from a clothesline “I could do quilting,” she declared “I’d be an awesome quilter. Funny word that, ‘quilt’, wonder where it comes from?”

“Doctor…” Rose coughed

“Right, sorry,” The Doctor blushed as she jumped over the low wall and back onto the sidewalk, absently jumping and skipping on a hopscotch court drawn in chalk on the pavement “by the way,” she began as she finished the court “did you notice the car following us?”

“Yep,” Rose nodded “what’d you think? FBI?”

“Probably,” The Doctor nodded as a sleek black car pulled to a stop at the curb with rumble of an old, pre-emissions check engine, two men in dull grey suits and matching fedoras climbing out “ah! And here we are” The Doctor beamed as the two men flanked them, one in front, one in back.

“Federal agents, ladies,” the suit in front introduced himself, quickly flashing his badge “I’m Agent Dwayne, this is Agent Mills. Mind if we have a moment of your time?”

“Oh, gee, I don’t know,” The Doctor pursed her lips “a moment’s a pretty long time”

Agent Dwayne’s eyes narrowed as he pulled his notebook out

“Could I have your names, please?”

“’Course, Jane and Rose Tyler,” The Doctor answered. She grinned and pulled Rose “my sister here and I are just visiting” she added

Agent Dwayne nodded and scribbled that down

“Can we ask what this is about?” Rose wondered

Agent Dwayne smirked at her, it wasn’t a particularly reassuring smirk

“Just a routine check, ma’am,” he answered “how long have you been here in Montgomery?”

“Oh…about…two? Three? Days” The Doctor answered

“Did an Officer Mason tell you about us?” Rose asked

“We’re not at liberty to discuss that, ma’am” Agent Mills answered

“Now, Ms. Jane, is it?” Agent Dwayne began “you were seen in the Cleveland Court neighborhood last night”

“Yes, so?” The Doctor shrugged “met a nice woman who invited me for some coffee” she dismissed

“Uh-huh,” Agent Dwayne clearly didn’t believe her but obviously didn’t have any evidence to back it up “did you see this man there?” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a snapshot of Dr. King which had clearly been taken at a distance

“Huh,” The Doctor frowned and squinted at the snapshot “hmm…no, I don’t think so. Why, who is he? Looks very important, he a senator or something?”

Agent Mills snorted in clear derision

“He’s a person of interest to the Bureau,” Agent Dwayne answered, replacing the snapshot “where are you two from again?” he asked

“England,” The Doctor answered “you know, actually, we’re in a rush, so…?”

Agent Dwayne shut his notebook with a _snap_ before giving the brim of his fedora a light tug

“You two ladies stay out of trouble now, eh?”

With a pair of condescending smirks, both agents climbed back into the car and drove off

“Why would the government be asking questions about Martian Luther King?” Rose wondered as they watched the car disappear

“It’s 1955, Rose, height of the Cold War,” The Doctor reminded her softly “civil rights leaders were automatically linked with communist sympathizers because they advocated equality and challenged the status quo,” she explained. She shrugged “not so different from your own time, really, except then ‘communist’ is changed with ‘Islamic fundamentalist’.” she pointed

“Mickey’s a communist” Rose commented

“Is he really?” The Doctor asked in surprise

“No,” Rose chuckled “but a lot of his mates are”

The Doctor chuckled and brightened again

“Come on,” she cheered. Jogging ahead they reached their destination. Frowning, The Doctor glanced back at Rose “flip you for it?” she offered

“No cash” Rose reminded her, earning a playful scowl from The Doctor as she knocked on the door, a rather surprised looking man answering the door. He looked as if they’d caught him in the middle of getting ready for work; he wore a half-buttoned dress shirt and still had a bit of shaving cream on his face

“Elias Griffin Jr.?” The Doctor asked

“Yeah…?” he answered slowly

The Doctor and Rose both put on their best eager grins

“Congratulations!” The Doctor beamed, which earned a slightly startled jump from Elias Griffin Jr. “you have just won are Raffle of the Century!” she added

“I don’t remember entering no raffle” Elias Griffin shook his head somewhat sleepily

“Shame,” The Doctor dismissed “because you have just won an all expenses paid, VIP trip to Las Vegas to see Frank Sinatra”

Elias visibly perked up at that

“Sinatra?” he asked, eyes wide “my, my wife loves Sinatra!” he exclaimed

“Really? Fancy that, who would have guessed,” Rose muttered. She beamed at Elias “well, if you decide to go, you’ll get backstage passes to meet Frank himself” she added

“But there’s a catch,” The Doctor added “you have to leave now”

“Now?” Elias echoed

“Right now,” Rose added “unless…you don’t want to go?”

“Oh, I’d love to,” Elias groaned “but, I can’t, my work shift starts in a couple of hours”

“Already sorted,” Rose beamed “the bus company’s already assigned someone to cover your shift”

“And there’s a taxi coming to take you and your wife to the airport in thirty minutes” The Doctor added

“Thirty minutes?”

“Thirty minutes,” The Doctor repeated “so, you’d better get ready”

“Oh, we’ll be ready,” Elis promised, grinning from ear to ear “we’ll be ready” he eagerly shut the door, an excited whoop of joy reaching out to the porch

“Oh, good thing Elvis loaned Frank that mobile phone,” The Doctor sighed “against everything I told him”

“He was nice,” Rose commented “Elvis. So, what’s next?”

“We need to stick to close to Rosa” The Doctor sighed. Brightening, she reached for Rose’s hoodie, only for Rose pull back

“Oi! No! I like this one!” she exclaimed

“Oh! Fine!” grumbling, The Doctor quickly gripped the side of her coat and ripped it along the stitching…

******

Meanwhile, at Mill Creak, Graham and Ryan were surprising James Blake

“Oi, oi, Jim boy” Graham greeted

“Wha…?” a rather confused James Blake turned, looking around in confusion

“We’ve been looking up and down the whole creek for you” Graham explained

“Why?” a confused Blake asked

“To join you,” Graham explained “last night you were saying ‘bout how good the fishing was here,” he gestured to Ryan “this is my grandson, Ryan” he introduced

“Wha…?” Blake jerked back in surprise at seeing Ryan

“Hey, Jimmy Blake,” Ryan grinned and held out his fist in a greeting that wouldn’t become popular for at least another decade “how many have you caught?” he asked, grabbing Blake’s net “can I see? Bet you I can juggle ‘em”

“Y, you can’t be here” Blake stammered, quickly getting up out of the lawn chair he’d been sitting in and snatching the net away from Ryan

“Nah, reckon we’d be here all day,” Graham dismissed, quickly plopping down in Blake’s seat “especially with all those bus sit-ins” he added

“What’re you talkin’ ‘bout?” Blake asked

“Oh, we’d heard that a group of black passengers were staging sit-ins and boycotts all along the bus routes today”

“Shame,” Ryan added “good thing you got the day off, eh?”

Blake scowled

“Not on my bus,” he grumbled “get outta my seat,” he ordered Graham, quickly gathering his things up “and that ain’t your grandson!” he added over his shoulder as he stalked off.

Now alone, Graham and Ryan both looked at each other and started laughing

“He was easy” Ryan chuckled

“Yeah,” Graham nodded, holding out his own fist “boom” he grinned.

Ryan glanced at the outstretched limb and then at Graham

“Don’t do that,” he pleaded “ever” he added

“Yeah, probably right” Graham agreed awkwardly…

******

After giving Elias Griffin the opportunity of a lifetime, The Doctor and Rose split up, with The Doctor meeting Yaz at the department store where Rosa Parks worked

“So sorry, Mrs. Parks, but we’ve got a serious clothing emergency” The Doctor apologized as she held out her now-ruined coat.

Mrs. Parks fingered the edges of the tear

“That is a nasty tear” she remarked

“Yes it is” The Doctor agreed regrettably, looking wounded at the thought that she’d damaged her own coat

“And there’s nothing we Brits hate more than a clothing emergency” Yaz added quickly

“Mrs. Parks, if you could please help us with this?” The Doctor pleaded

“Well,” Mrs. Parks shuffled through the stack of papers on her desk “I don’t have any collections until tomorrow. If you could come back then, I could—”

“No!” The Doctor said quickly “I really need this coat for tonight and I don’t show up in it I’ll get in trouble” she explained

“Well, I don’t know…” Mrs. Parks began

“Double-time Christmas bonus” Yaz jumped in

Mrs. Parks chuckled

“Well, all right” she agreed

“Good,” The Doctor beamed “why doesn’t Yaz stay with you? Keep you company?”

“Oh, I don’t need company” Mrs. Parks dismissed

“No. Of course not. But…my coat does,” The Doctor explained “it’s very valuable”

Mrs. Parks smirked again

“Well, then I’d better get to work” she chuckled. As she took the coat off into the back, The Doctor pulled Yaz to a corner

“All right, I’m going to meet up with Rose and the others,” she explained “stay with her and get her out of here and on the bus at five forty at the latest. All right?”

“Yeah” Yaz nodded

“All right,” The Doctor nodded “good luck” she urged before dashing out of the door, leaving Yaz to warily eye the clock…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sad historical fact: Dr. King really was under surveillance by the FBI, as were other prominent civil rights leaders. In fact FBI agents, under orders from J. Edger Hoover, actually even sent anonymous letters to Dr. King encouraging him to commit suicide.
> 
> As an American I'd like to say we've gotten better since then, but then I remember who's our so-called President and realize that, no, we haven't


	7. Part of the Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are folks, the second to last chapter, please enjoy :=)

******

“I came back from the creek for this?” James Blake complained as he studied his bus “four slashed tires and a smashed in windshield? What in the hell happened?” he demanded.

Standing besides him, dressed in a pair of mechanic’s overalls and affecting a Southern American accent, Krasko shrugged

“Well, you know, kids” he dismissed in a passable Southern drawl

“Well I can’t drive that” Blake pointed out

“Oh, no, you go on home,” Krasko told him “no, we’ll reassign someone else to the route” he explained

With a shrug, Blake walked away

“So much for that protest,” he remarked “this bus ain’t going nowhere”

A few feet away, hunkered down behind the rusted shell of an old car, Graham turned to Ryan

“Did you hear that?” he whispered “everything we do, Krasko’s a step ahead. He deliberately smashed up that bus himself”

“We’ve got to fix this, James Blake has got to drive Rosa home tonight” Ryan nodded as Rose sprinted over, ducking down besides them

“Right, well he ain’t giving up that easily” Graham remarked as she skidded to a stop

“Well neither are we,” she pointed out “Ryan, check every stop along Blake’s route, tell the passengers that the bus is coming. _Don’t_ let any of them walk. The bus has to be full,” she reminded him “full enough that Rosa is expected to move”

“Right,” Ryan nodded “got it”

“Good luck” Graham told him as he hurried off

Now alone, Rose turned to Graham

“You used to drive a bus, didn’t you?” she asked

“Yeah,” he nodded, looking confused “why?”

Rose grinned…

******

“I can’t believe this,” Graham grumbled as he shifted gears “nicking and hotwiring a bus from right outside the depot? Hope our friendly cop don’t hear about this”

“Well, if he shows up again, maybe Rose can just flash her ankles at him” The Doctor teased, earning her a balled piece of paper to the head from Rose as Graham pulled the bus to a stop at the curb and opened the doors, revealing a rather startled-looking James Blake

“What in the hell?” he demanded as Rose and The Doctor hopped off, followed by Graham

“This is your replacement bus service” The Doctor explained as Graham grinned at Blake

“Jim boy” he greeted

“You again?” Blake demanded

“Oh I know, I literally get everywhere,” Graham dismissed “come on, in you get, time to do your job”

“You’re already eighty minutes behind schedule” Rose pointed

“How can you know that?” Blake demanded “what’s going on? What happened to that damn sit-in? No else knew anything about it”

“Love to explained, but you know us Brits, rather imperious lot,” The Doctor beamed “don’t feel the need to explain ourselves to anyone, ever. Now, come on, chop-chop, lot of people need to use this bus tonight,”

Still looking horribly confused, Blake reluctantly climbed aboard and took the wheel. The Doctor took a breath and nodded at Graham and Rose

“James Blake behind the wheel, check,” she nodded “Rose, go and check on Ryan” she instructed

“Got it” Rose nodded as The Doctor and Graham climbed back aboard the bus, Blake quickly driving off. Now alone on the curb, Rose paused as she spotted Krasko watching from across the street. The two time travelers stared each other down for a moment before they both turned and went their separate ways…

******

Ryan panted for breath as he reached the first stop along Blake’s route, staring at what he found attached to the signpost

“Ryan!”

He looked up at Rose jogged towards him

“Rose, look!” he tore the paper off the signpost and held it out to her “ _‘bus services suspended’_ ”

“Krasko,” Rose growled “come on!” she began sprinting down the street, a breathless Ryan following her…

******

Meanwhile, Yaz ideally kicked her legs as she perched atop a desk, watching Mrs. Parks work on The Doctor’s coat, her hands moving a gentle skill

“Did you always want to be a seamstress?” she wondered

“Well, actually, I dreamed of being a teacher,” Mrs. Parks explained “but, then my grandmother got sick, then my mother, and, well,” she sighed “that was the end of school”

“Sorry about that” Yaz apologized

“Oh I got myself educated,” Mrs. Parks dismissed “just took longer than I thought”

“But you never stopped” Yaz pointed out

“Always,” Mrs. Parks agreed “and an education makes you unstoppable” she declared

“Everything here’s a fight for you,” Yaz shook her head “don’t you get tired? What keeps you going?” she wondered

Mrs. Parks slowed in her movements

“Promise of tomorrow,” she answered “when today isn’t working, tomorrow is what keeps you going,” she glanced at back Yaz “you married? Got a job back home?” she wondered

“Not married and I’m a police officer” Yaz answered

Mrs. Parks turned to face her, a look of surprise on her face

“You’re police” she asked, a delighted tone in her voice

“Yep,” Yaz nodded “just starting out, not really where I want to be” she admitted

“Hmm, and where is it you want to be?” Mrs. Parks wondered as she went back to her work

“In charge” Yaz answered, which earned a surprised and delighted laugh from the other woman

“Amen to that” she chuckled

Yaz glanced back up at the clock, noting how close it was getting

“Shouldn’t you be finishing up by now?” she wondered

“If a job is worth doing then it’s worth doing right” Mrs. Parks answered sagely

“But don’t you have a bus to catch?” Yaz pushed

“Oh, I can always walk” Mrs. Parks dismissed…

******

As the bus made another stop and more passengers boarded, Graham suddenly leaned towards The Doctor

“Doc, I don’t want to be an alarmist,” he began “but this bus seems an awful lot emptier than it was last night”

The Doctor looked around, noting that many of the seats that were designated ‘white’ were empty

“No, this is bad,” she hissed “the bus has to be full,” she scowled “come on, Rose” she pleaded…

******

“Hey, excuse me! Hey, old people!” Ryan yelled as he and Rose chased down an elderly couple, who finally turned “the buses are still running” Ryan panted out

“We’re going to walk” the man dismissed

“The buses are coming,” Ryan insisted “please, I promise, just wait”

The man—a mustached white man in glasses—scowled

“You don’t tell me what to do, boy!” he spat before he and his female companion turned and stalked away

“Come on” Rose gripped Ryan’s arm and pulled him along…

******

Mrs. Parks snipped the final thread and gently eased the coat off the stand

“I think that should just about—”

“Love it!” Yaz quickly snatched it from her “come on,” she grabbed Mrs. Parks’ coat and handed it to her “I’ll walk you there, pay you on the way” she explained, hurriedly hustling her out the door…

******

Rose and Ryan skidded to a stop as they found Krasko standing by a car in the middle of the road

“Well, that figures” Rose panted out

“Come on, mate, move your car so the bus gets through,” Ryan ordered “get out of the way”

“No,” Krasko smirked “you get out of my way”

“Give it up, Krasko,” Rose sighed “you’ve lost”

“No, you have,” Krakso countered “see, I know what happens, and even if it past here, that bus is at least three passengers short than it should be,” he explained “Parks won’t be asked to move, she won’t protest, and his kind won’t get so full of themselves”

“His kind?” Rose echoed, looking towards Ryan

“Yeah,” Krasko nodded with a sneer “his kind. Who should have learned to stay in their place a long time ago”

“Mate, you’re living in the past” Ryan declared

“In fact,” Rose added as she dug around in her pocket and held up the temporal displacement weapon “why don’t you just stay there?”

Krasko smirked and held out a hand, the weapon suddenly leaping from Rose’s hand to his own

“Recall switch,” he laughed “keyed to my biosignature,” he explained “and you charged it for me, thanks,” he smirked as he aimed it at them. The weapon let out a fizzling crackle “what?” he stared at it as Rose smirked as she held up her sonic screwdriver

“It’s also good for resetting things,” she explained “I reprogrammed your weapon to fire a feedback pulse,” she grinned and waved “bye”

With a startled yell, Krasko suddenly vanished in a pulse of blue light

“Yes!” Ryan laughed

“Can’t believe that worked,” Rose sighed “come on” she urged

“Right,” Ryan nodded “move the car, let the bus through, and Rosa Parks changes the world”

******

The Doctor looked up as Yaz climbed aboard

“Yaz, you’re here, how’s it going?” she asked

“Mrs. Parks fixed your coat” Yaz answered, handing her her coat back

“Oh, right, thank you, Mrs. Parks,” The Doctor smiled “beautiful work, much appreciated”

“You’re welcome” Mrs. Parks answered, clearly noticing the oddity of her being on the same bus twice in a row as she paid her fair and then stepped off to use the ‘coloreds’ entrance as Blake moved to shut the doors

“Wait! Don’t drive off yet! Wait two more coming!”

A breathless Ryan and Rose stumbled onboard

“Krasko’s gone” Rose panted out

“How?” The Doctor asked

“Reprogrammed his weapon,” Rose explained “dialed the settings as far back as it could go. He’s gone”

“Ahem,” Blake cleared his throat “used the door for coloreds” he ordered Ryan

Still looking winded, Ryan deposited his fair and then slipped back out; climbing back aboard just behind Mrs. Parks as Rose sat down next to The Doctor who quietly ordered group to move back

“Hey, Doc, Rosa’s onboard, Blake’s driving, we’re good, right?” Graham asked

“What is it?” Rose asked “what are you doing?”

“Counting seats” The Doctor answered

“Have we done enough?” Yaz wondered

“I don’t know” The Doctor answered

“Well we get off at the next stop, right?” Graham asked

“Empire Theater, yeah” Yaz nodded as the bus slowed to a stop, Graham standing up to leave, only pause as he noticed The Doctor lingering behind

“Well come on then” he encouraged

“Doctor?” Rose asked as The Doctor looked up at Graham

“Don’t get off, Graham,” she ordered “if we get off, there’s enough empty seats for white passengers and Rosa won’t be asked to move”

“We were here,” Rose breathed “we’re part of it”

“Part of the story” Yaz nodded

A stricken look crossed Graham’s face and he frantically shook his head

“Oh, no, no, I don’t want to be part of this” he pleaded

“I’m sorry, but we can’t help her” The Doctor explained

“Graham…” Rose urged softly

Reluctantly, Graham slowly sat back down, looking as if he’d been punched in the gut

“I’m going to need those seats back there,” Blake called out “y’all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats” he added.

Several black passengers, including Ryan, stood and moved without complaint, clearly not wanting to make trouble for themselves. Mrs. Parks also stood, but then hesitated, and then, slowly sat back down in a seat just behind Rose and The Doctor, her movements calm and measured, a defiant purpose to them.

Up front, with a tired groan, James Blake stood up and marched over to where she sat, moving one of the ‘white’ signs to the seat in front of her

“Stand up now” he ordered

Mrs. Parks slowly looked up at him

“I don’t see why I should have to” she replied

Blake set his jaw

“Are you going to stand up or not?” he demanded

“No” was her calm reply

“If you don’t stand up right now, I’m going to have you arrested” Blake threatened

Again, Mrs. Parks calmly looked up at him

“You may do that” she nodded

With an exasperated scoff, Blake turned and marched out of the bus to a phone booth…

******

The police arrived seemingly moments later, two officers entering the now deathly silent bus. They approached Mrs. Parks, spoke with her for a few seconds and then calmly urged her out of her seat, leading her down the aisle.

“Why do you push us around?” she asked the two officers

“I don’t know,” one answered honestly “but the law’s the law, and you’re under arrest”

As she passed the five travelers, none of them would meet her gaze, their faces filled with shame and regret. Despite that, Mrs. Parks held her head high as the officers lead her outside and calmly handcuffed her; she made no protest, no attempt at resisting, but her entire body visibly brimmed with defiance as she ushered into the waiting police car, giving Ryan a small knowing smile and a nod as she did…

******

“On Monday, the boycotts begin,” The Doctor explained as the group gathered in the TARDIS console room “all across Montgomery, people refuse to use the buses in response to Rosa’s arrest. Then, just a little over a year later, on December the 21st 1956, segregation on buses in Montgomery was ended”

“So it all worked out for her?” Ryan wondered

“No,” The Doctor shook her head “life’s still hard for her. She loses her job, so does her husband, it’s a struggle. She even moved to another state”

“And she was even robbed and assaulted in her own home in the 1990s” Rose added

“But then, in June of 1999, she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Clinton,” The Doctor explained “the highest honor ever given to a civilian, recognizing her as a living icon for freedom”

“But it took so long though,” Ryan pointed out “her whole life”

“Yes it did,” The Doctor nodded, an awed tone in her voice “but she changed the world,” she brightened “in fact, she changed the universe. Look at this,” she lead the gorup to the TARDIS doors and pulled them open, revealing an asteroid field, one large asteroid glinted in the starlight as it lazily drifted in front of the ship

“Asteroid 284996,” The Doctor breathed “also known as…‘Rosaparks’.” she explained as the group stood in silent awe…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bus driver James Blake, by his own admission, stated in an interview that he had nothing personal against Parks but was simply doing his job, as bus drivers in Montgomery at that time actually had full police powers to enforce segregation. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Blake continued working for the bus company for 19 more years before he retired in 1974, where he joined The Moringview Baptist Church, and, upon his death, the children's pastor commented that he was a 'kind and gracious man' who loved everyone and who changed with the time.
> 
> In 2003, the bus that Parks was on when she was arrested was restored and placed on display in The Henry Ford Museum.
> 
> Upon her death in 2005, Rosa Parks began the first woman and the third non-U.S. government official to lie in honor in the Capital Rotunda, and my home state of California celebrates her birthday of February 4th as 'Rosa Parks Day' along with Missouri, while the states of Oregon and Ohio commemorate the day she was arrested, December 1st


	8. Dancing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, the final chapter! Enjoy! :=)

******

“Working late?”

The Doctor glanced up from the console at Rose’s voice

“Just doing some routine maintenance on the…” she trailed off, the mallet in her hand dropping to the floor with a clatter as she gapped, open-mouthed, at Rose.

The evening gown that Rose now wore was made of an iridescent material, shimmering and sparking in various shades of purples, blues, and grays, the sequins on it sparkling like stars.

The dress was off the shoulder, and clung tightly enough to highlight Rose’s figure without being so tight as to be indecent, while the strappy heeled sandals on her feet highlighted the length of leg now peeking out from the long slit up the dress’s side. But Rose hadn’t stopped there, she’d also pinned her hair up in a neat and artful bun, and applied just a touch of deep red lipstick and eyeliner.

Smirking shyly at The Doctor’s gob smacked expression, she gave a little twirl

“You like?” she asked

“Uh-huh,” The Doctor nodded dimly “wha, what’s the occasion?” she stammered out

“I told you that I was going to take you dancing” Rose reminded her

“Yeah, but…,” The Doctor shook her head “I thought we were going to wait until after we got the others back home?”

“I know,” Rose nodded “but,” she shrugged “I couldn’t wait” she reached out, gently adjusting the controls, the TARDIS humming quietly in response

“So, uh, where are we going?” The Doctor wondered as the TARDIS hummed as it gently landed

“New York,” Rose answered “1930s”

The Doctor looked down at herself, taking note of the welder’s apron and her grease-stained hands

“I’m a little underdressed” she noted

“Don’t worry,” Rose held up a dress “I came prepared,” she grinned as she handed it to The Doctor “meet you outside” she called as she dashed outside the doors…

******

A few minutes later The Doctor stepped out the TARDIS and past a red velvet curtain and into a beautiful ballroom. The hardwood parquet floors gleamed and shone in the light (The Doctor could swear that she could see her face in it), while a series of large, floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows surrounded the large, circular room, all leading up to a brilliant stained glass ceiling, from which a large, crystal chandelier hung.

“Oh…Rose,” The Doctor breathed as she looked around “this is lovely” she exclaimed softly “but,” she looked around, taking note of the other couples “this looks like a private party”

“It is,” Rose nodded “some senator’s birthday or wedding anniversary,” she shrugged “but…,” she held up the psychic paper “I got us on the invitation list” she grinned smugly

The Doctor grinned

“You’re getting pretty sneaky as the centuries go on” she noted

“Problem?” Rose wondered

“No, not really,” The Doctor grinned “so, who are we?” she wondered

Rose glanced at the psychic paper

“The Mayor’s wife and sister” she answered

“Hmm, couldn’t we be royalty?” The Doctor wondered, grunting as she suddenly stumbled “oh, I’m still not used to wearing heels” she muttered

“It’s not easy,” Rose agreed “are they pinching your toes?”

“Yes, something awful,” The Doctor answered “and I think they’re also pinching my spine”

Rose grinned and reached into the small clutch purse she held (which matched her dress and was bigger on the inside) and pulled out a pair of stylish flats which matched The Doctor’s dress

“Try these” she offered

“Oh, thanks,” leaning against the TARDIS, The Doctor quickly switched out her shoes. Straightening up, she nodded in approval “how do I look?” she asked, gesturing to her own dress, which matched Rose’s in color but was strapless and flared out at the waist, making a rather fun-sounding _swish_ as she moved

“You look beautiful” Rose smiled

The Doctor blushed prettily

“Thanks,” she reached up and tried to flatten her hair down with little success “wasn’t sure what to do with my hair” she admitted

“I can show you sometime” Rose offered

“That’d be nice,” The Doctor nodded as she took Rose’s hands and they began gently swaying to the soft tune from the band up front “not to complain, but what about the others?” she wondered

“I dropped them off in New York in 1955,” Rose explained “I figured Graham deserved a treat after all that”

“Ah,” The Doctor nodded “Elvis”

“He says hi by the way”

“I bet he does,” The Doctor chuckled. She looked around in room again “if you keep treating me like this I might reconsider just leaving the others back in the ‘50s” she remarked

“No you wouldn’t” Rose chuckled

“No,” The Doctor agreed “but it is tempting when you’re dressed like this”

Rose chuckled and ducked her head shyly

“Want to freak some people out?” she wondered

“Depends, what’d you have in mind?”

Rose grinned

“Kiss me,” she instructed “and make it a good one”

The Doctor grinned back

“Oh, I can do that” she vowed, leaning in and quickly capturing Rose’s lips with her own, sighing into her mouth. Breaking apart for air, they both grinned at each other as the crowd of other dancers murmured amongst each other in clear shock.

Still grinning at each other, The Doctor and Rose turned to the crowd, both bowing

“Thank you folks,” The Doctor grinned “we’ll be here all week” she announced

“Ahem,” a man in a neat tuxedo—presumably a waiter—approached the two “madam, I must insist that you and your…companion leave immediately” he explained

“Thanks, but no,” The Doctor grinned “we’ll stay for the rest of the party”

“Madam, if you do not leave I will be forced to phone the police” the man warned

“Go ahead” The Doctor grinned, quickly snatching a champagne flute from a passing waiter and handing it to Rose, who took a sip and then splashed it in the man’s face. Spluttering, the man dabbed at his face with a handkerchief and then stormed off

“He probably really will call the police” Rose warned

“Probably,” The Doctor agreed “want to stay until they get here?”

“Absolutely,” Rose grinned, taking her hands and leading her through a modified waltz even though the band had stopped playing “but, if we get arrested again _you’re_ picking the guard’s pocket” she ordered

The Doctor rolled her eyes

“Rose, we won’t get arrested again,” she sighed “we’ll be long gone by the time the cops get here”

“That’s what you said last time,” Rose grumbled. She looked up, peering past The Doctor’s shoulder “uh-oh, time to go” she nodded to where the same man was talking with two police officers

“Back in the box” The Doctor grinned, taking her hand and charging back through the curtain and inside the TARDIS.

By the time the two officers had yanked the curtain back the blue box had already vanished…

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it folks! The end of my 13/Rose AU of "Rosa" :=). I hope everyone enjoyed it and thanks to all of those who left kudos and comments. Stay tuned for an AU of "Arachnids in the UK", coming soon to an archive near you! :=).
> 
> Thanks again!
> 
> \--AXEe :=)

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought :=)


End file.
